Glem

Gérard Lemaire

(b. 5 November 1946, Belgium)

Les Voraces

Gérard Lemaire is a comic artist and advertising designer, who has worked under the pen names Glem and Gélem. He was born in Cuesmes in the Hainaut area of Belgium, but spent spent sixteen years of his childhood in Belgian Congo, Africa. Back in Belgium at age 18, he started his artistic education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. He was hired by Jean Graton as a background artist and colorist for the 'Michel Vaillant' comic during a year.

He assumed the pseudonym Gélem and started contributing to the magazine Spirou in 1968. Until 1971, he made several "mini-books" and (short) stories with characters like 'Tom Bolah', 'Bidule' and 'Ted et Narcisse' for the magazine. He also made 'Tof et Popol' in Le Soir Jeunesse, as well as several illustrations and caricatures in the Averbode magazines Tremplin, Bonjour and Dorémi.

Ted et Narcisse - Le monstre du gouffre noir (Spirou #1602, 1968)

After fulfilling his military service, he spent eight years working with Eurovision as a technical draughtsman. He additionally created 'La Bande à Bacilles' for the medical magazine AMB, and made illustrations for the magazines Journal Spécial, L'Événement and Pourquoi Pas?. In 1979 he became head of the ad agency Publi-Market.

He returned to comics and Spirou magazine in 1985, this time using the pseudonym Glem. He illustrated the 'Contes de Luce' by Luce Degotte, and then created gags starring the character 'Freddy Guidon' in cooperation with Thierry Groensteen. From 1986, he created the gag series 'Les Voraces' with writer Raoul Cauvin. This comic about the two vultures Balthazar and Melchior ran until 1996 and was collected by Dupuis in five albums. In addition, Glem made 'Non Sense' in 1992 and 1993 with scriptwriter François Gilson, followed by 'Enzo et les Zootres' in 1998. Besides some occasional appearances in the comics scene, Lemaire has remained mostly active as a freelance advertising artist through his own ad studios in Brussels.